Please support Mahmoud Salehi in any ways you possibly can.
Please read all suggestions below and act urgently:
1- LaburStart Campaign: Nearly 6000 messages to the government authorities from all over the world have been sent through this campaign so far.
In literally 30 seconds you can send a
message to the government of Iran. The campaign URL is:
http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=231
2- Amnesty International Urgent Action:
A detained trade unionist needs medical attention desperately.
PUBLIC
AI Index: MDE 13/082/2007
UA 176/07
Prisoner of Conscience / Medical concern
6 July 2007
IRAN
Mahmoud Salehi (m), trade union activist
Trade union activist Mahmoud Salehi, who has been imprisoned since 9 April, is seriously ill and is allegedly not receiving the specialist medical treatment that he requires. Amnesty International believes that he is a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and association in connection with the 2004 May Day demonstration, and with his peaceful trade union activities.
Mahmoud Salehi is the Spokesperson for the Organisational Committee to Establish Trade Unions, former President of the Saqez Bakery Workers’ Association, and co-founder of the Coordinating Committee to Form Workers’ Organisations. He was arrested after a peaceful demonstration to celebrate May Day 2004 along with six other trade union activists. They were all were later released on bail that same month. In November 2005 he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and three years' internal exile in the city of Ghorveh, in the north western province of Kordestan. At his trial, the prosecutor reportedly cited his trade union activities as evidence against him, and referred to a meeting he had held with officials from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in April 2004, shortly before the May Day demonstrations. His conviction was overturned on appeal, but after a retrial he was sentenced on 11 November 2006 to four years’ imprisonment by Saqez Revolutionary Court for “conspiring to commit crimes against national security” under article 610 of the Islamic Penal Code. Following an appeal, whose last hearing took place on 11 March, this was reduced to one year’s imprisonment, and a three-year suspended prison sentence.
Mahmoud Salehi was arrested on 9 April 2007. His son, in a letter carried on the website of the Iranian Workers' Solidarity Network, described his father’s arrest:
“One of the officers of the Saqez security force went to where Mahmoud Salehi (my father) works and told my father that the Governor and the Prosecutor would like to talk to him about this year's May Day ceremonies. My father… went to courthouse with this officer. Immediately after he entered the courthouse my father realised that this had nothing to do with the issue of [this year's] May Day! Instead this was about the May Day celebration of 2004 and the four-year sentence passed against him. Recently the appeal court changed the sentence to one year in custody and three years suspended, which the legal authorities are, in an illegal way, trying to implement. The legal authorities, despite my father and mother's protests, and my father's refusal to sign the summons and without paying any attention to his appeals and protests, immediately used severe security measures. Several officers surrounded him and bundled him into a car. The car carrying my father was escorted by several police vehicles and… left town for an undisclosed destination. My father is the first person who has had his sentence carried out in this way and transferred to prison immediately. The summons is supposed to have been given to him beforehand so that he could prepare himself for it.”
Mahmoud Salehi has only one kidney, is reported to be suffering from kidney stones, and is said to require dialysis treatment. A letter from his doctor, stating that Mahmoud Salehi requires treatment outside prison, was apparently delivered to prison officials on 15 May. His lawyer announced on 8 June that Mahmoud Salehi had begun a hunger strike in protest at his detention in Sanandaj Prison, which is 400km from where his family live. Amnesty International does not know whether he is continuing his hunger strike, but he is reported also to be suffering from heart and intestinal problems. On 17 June, he was reportedly taken to Towhid Hospital in Sanandaj, but was afterwards returned to prison.
Mahmoud Salehi has been denied visits from his lawyer and family; his family have been able to contact him by telephone.
He has been arrested several times before now. Amnesty International took action on his behalf in 2000 (see Medical Writing Action: Ill-health Mahmood Salehi, AI Index: MDE 13/30/00).
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Using your own words, please choose a few of the suggestions below to write a letter in Persian, Arabic, Kurdish, English or French:
- expressing concern at reports that trade union activist Mahmoud Salehi is seriously ill in detention in Sanandaj prison, and calling for him to be granted all necessary medical treatment, if necessary in specialist medical facilities outside the prison where he is held;
- calling for him to be granted regular access to his family and his lawyer.
- calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Mahmoud Salehi as he is a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression and association in connection with the 2004 May Day demonstration, and with his peaceful trade union activities.
APPEALS TO:
Leader of the Islamic Republic:
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street
Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Fax: 011 98 251 774 2228
(At the top, mark it FAO Office of His Excellency Ayatollah al Udhma Khamenei.)
Salutation: Your Excellency
Head of the Judiciary:
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice
Park-e Shahr
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Mr Seyed Mahdi Mohebi
Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy for the Islamic Republic of Iran
245 Metcalfe Street
Ottawa, Ontario K2P 2K2
Fax: (613) 232-5712
Governor of Kordestan Esmail Najjar
By email only:
In Persian and Kurdish via the feedback form on the Persian part of the website: http://www.ostan-kd.ir/Default.aspx?tabId=150&cv=4@0_1
In other languages, use the feedback form on the English part of the website: http://en.ostan-kd.ir/Default.aspx?TabID=59
Salutation: Dear Governor
Your urgent response to this action is vital, and appreciated.
http://www.amnesty.ca/urgentaction
3- ITUC:
Iran: Anti union repression continues
Brussels, 5 July 2007: Concern is growing for the welfare of Mr. Mahmoud Salehi, the leader and founding member of the Baker Workers’ Association of Saquez, who has been in prison since 9 April 2007 and whose medical condition is now considered life-threatening. Mr. Salehi has a stone in his one remaining kidney and requires regular dialysis, treatement which is not available to him in prison.
Several groups and organizations are campaigning in Iran for the immediate release of Mahmoud Salehi. The Committee in Defense of the May Day Arrested Workers in Iran has called for renewed urgent action for the immediate transfer of Salehi to a specialized hospital for urgent treatment. According to the information received by the ITUC, the Sanandaj’s authorities are preventing the transfer of Salehi to a hospital purposefully to dangerously weaken his health.
The ITUC has already written to the President of Iran on several occasions to strongly condemn attacks by the Iranian authorities on independent trade unions in the country (see previous online). and expressed its concerns about the serious consequences of the failure to provide appropriate medical treatment for Mr. Salehi, while he remains in custody. The ITUC received no reaction from the Iranian authorities. It is now urging all its affiliates to join in the appeal to the authorities to ensure that Mr. Salehi is released on humanitarian grounds and receives urgent medical attention.
“Creating life-threatening conditions for a person who is in custody merely for exercising his fundamental right to form a trade union and develop legitimate trade union activities, especially when one is aware of all judicial irregularities and abuses that led to Mahmoud Salehi’s detention, is simply appalling” declared Guy Ryder, ITUC General Secretary.
The ITUC has also expressed its concerns in a letter sent today to the International Labour Organisation. “This is clearly an attempt on behalf of the Iranian intelligence services to force Mr. Salehi to stop his trade union activities.” The ITUC has requested in its letter that the matter be brought to the attention of the Committee on Freedom of Association.
http://www.ituc-csi.org/spip.php?article1283
4- You can also use the following sample letter:
Mahmoud Salehi Requires urgent Medical Attention!
Free Mahmoud Salehi Now!
Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
The Presidency,
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: + 98 21 649 58 80
Email: [email protected]
I am writing this letter to express my serous concerns regarding the health and well-being of Mahmoud Salehi who has been in Sanadaj’s central prison since April 9, 2007. Mr. Salehi, a founding member and the former President of the Bakery Workers’ Association of the city of Saqez and a well-known labour activist in Iran, has been sentenced unjustly to one year imprisonment and a three year suspended prison sentence for his labour activities. Mr. Salehi was arrested on April 9, 2007 without any prior notice and was immediately transferred to the city of Sanandaj.
Mr. Salehi is currently suffering from a life-threatening kidney disease. He only has one kidney, and that kidney is functioning at about only 10 percent of capacity. Mahmoud’s wife has reported that kidney specialists and even the doctors of the prison have certified that Mahmoud Salehi should be treated immediately. Mr. Sharif, Salehi’s lawyer, has written letters to the prosecutor of Saqez and other legal authorities in Saqez and Sanandaj concerning Salehi’s dangerous state of health and recalled them that the authorities of prison are entirely responsible for this situation. In addition to problem of kidney, and as the result of the lack of treatment, Mahmoud Salehi now suffers from heart problem as well as stomach and intestinal problems. He has been weakened so severely that he is unable to stand on his feet.
Mr. Salehi requires immediate specialised treatment in a hospital, but he has been denied appropriate medical treatment by the prison authorities. This is an absolute violation of Salehi’s human rights. Your government is fully responsible and liable for Salehi’s health and welfare.
I am calling on your government to release Mahmoud Salehi immediately and unconditionally as he is a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of organizing the 2004 May Day demonstration and his right to freedom of expression and association in connection with his labour rights activities. We are also, as a matter of urgency, calling for Salehi to be without delay granted all necessary medical treatment, in specialist medical facilities outside the prison where he is held as well as granting him immediate and unconditional access to his family and his lawyer.
Name
Organization
position
Send Copy of your Protest Letters to:
Leader of the Islamic Republic:
Ayatollah Sayed *Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Shoahada Street
Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email: [email protected] OR [email protected]
Fax: 011 98 251 7774 2228
Head of the Judiciary:
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building
Panzdah-Khordad Square
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: 011 98 21 3390 4986 (may be difficult to reach)
Email: [email protected]
Ambassador, Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of
Iran to the United Nations Institutions in Geneva, Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 28,
1209 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 733 02 03, E-mail: [email protected]
For more information, contact [email protected] or [email protected].
International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran
Background Information: www.workers-iran.org
http://www.etehadbinalmelali.com/INDEXI.htm